Tomatoes!

I know you are probably thinking I forgot all about this little blog. Well I didn't, I just haven't had the time. The only thing I yielded this year was some basil and parsley along with a few tomatoes. I haven't been able to pick the tomatoes yet, but here are a few pictures from a couple weeks ago.

Tomato plants are growing!

This is just a quick update since I haven't posted here in a while. You probably thought I killed all my plants right? LOL Well not ALL of them. :-/

I had 6 tomato seedlings that seemed to be holding their own, so I planted them right into my compost bin (which is basically a small Rubbermaid container). They are doing very well!

I also have a basil plant and a parsley plant that seem to be doing well also. Those I bought as 4" pots from the store and planted them in containers. They are outside and doing well. I've already used leaves from them several times.

Seedlings and flowers

Hmm, unless my work hours cut dramatically, I don't think I'll be having a garden anytime soon. I just don't have time :( So instead, I will take the remaining tomato seedlings I managed to somehow miraculously keep alive and plant them in 5 gallon buckets. Yes, that's all the survived my seedling adventure. :(

On the lighter side, I bought a few hanging flowers to brighten up my front walkway. I also bought some potted basil and parlsey. Hopefully those will do well!

Seedling killer??

A little over a week ago I neglected to water my poor little seedlings for a couple of days. :( That's my black thumb at work! By the time I realized it, it was too late for some of them.


As you can see from the photo, the gigantic green bean plant did not survive along with about half of the others. Some stronger plants made it and I replanted them into 4" biodegradable pots and they are holding their own. I was pretty disappointed with myself, I had vowed to be a better plant mother. They've been outside for about 4 days now and are holding up. We'll see how it goes!

Seedlings are growing - now what??

Ok so I'm a little nervous. I have all these wonderful seedlings growing like crazy (just look at the size of this green bean!). I'm really afraid to put them outside as I don't want to kill them. Guess it's time to learn about hardening off?

I want to plant some of these in containers, but I'm not really sure which ones should go in there and what size planters to use. Guess I have a lot of reading to do! Anyone out there that can help me?

I have:

green beans

tomatoes

radishes

cucumber

peppers

marigolds

carrots

basil

Any help is most appreciated!

Oh and just look at the pretty blooms on my cherry blossom tree outside my window! I love these signs of spring :)

Compost Newbie & more seedling sprouts

That's right, I'm a compost newbie. I have a plastic rubbermaid tub outside my kitchen sliding door. I started it with a bag of potting mix, which was probably unnecessary, but what the heck.

I've started adding to it. So far I have added:

* used coffee grounds

* broken up egg shells

* potato peels

It's been raining for two days so I'm going to have to wait to add some dry matter such as leaves and grass clippings. I also have some ashes I saved from my fireplace, so I plan to add some of those as well.

I am TOTALLY open to suggestions from experienced gardeners, so please don't be shy!  

On the sprout side, we now have thriving radish sprouts, my little basil sprout from my first post, and one tall cucumber sprout. Others are coming up, tomatoes have started and so has one of the green beans. Still waiting on the others.

Dominic, my youngest (10), is doing this garden with me. Each day he comes home from school and marvels over the growth of our plants. How fun!

Radish Sprouts!

We decided to take off for the weekend and go up to our camper. We are quite surprised to come home and see that the radishes had already sprouted! They are quick, we will probably have to take them out and place them in their own dish so that the others can still benefit from the moist environment under the plastic cover.

Also, I checked out a book from the library a couple of weeks ago called Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!
by Patricia Lanza. I just started reading it this morning and can already tell you I am very excited about trying this method! It involves building a garden bed right on top of the grass by layering peat moss, compost, and other layers to create a perfect growing environment. I'll give a full review when I am finished reading :) 

Starting Seeds

Well here we go on our new gardening adventure. I'm a little scared that maybe I'll actually be successful and then I'll have to actually take care of the garden all summer! LOL 

Yesterday my youngest son and I sat down and planted some tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, carrots, green beans and marigolds. We used the little peat pots that we bought at WalMart and it's now sitting in the front window.

We planted an even amount, 8 peat pots for each type of seed. We used craft sticks and a black marker to identify what is planted where. See how the marigolds and tomato markers have a 1 and a 2? Since I bought two types of each of these, I marked the seed packet with the corresponding number on the marker so that I would know which type of tomato and which type of marigold were in each one. 


In order for the lid to fit we had to lay the markers down, but once they sprout and we can remove the lid, we will stand them up again.

I was a good girl and I saved all the seed packets, we didn't use all of the seeds anyway. I'll make sure I pay attention to all the recommendations on the packets, but for now we just wait.

I am totally open to advice from experienced gardeners, so please feel free to comment away! :) 

I think this year I may make some more garden markers. I made these Country Plant Pokes years ago and might just do it again!

What? Another blog?

I know, I already have too many blogs, why start another one? Well you see, my husband has always teased me about my black thumb. It's not that I MEAN to kill the poor plants, I just don't really know what I am doing. I did successfully grow basil once, and low and behold this year I was able to start a basil seedling and it's beginning to grow quite nicely! See? Isn't it cute?!

I've decided, that for my own sake and the sake of the poor seeds sitting in their packets in my cabinet, that it's best if I learn before doing. I've also decided to keep a journal of these adventures. The gardener inside me is dying to come out, more so this year than any other time before. Therefore, I've started this blog, and hopefully I'll be able to learn as I go, and maybe others will learn with me too. :)

Here's to newbie gardening!